An Open Fire
by inexplainable
Summary: They had split since they were going to be separated more than they would be together. Four years later, while sitting in front of the most romantic open fire in the middle of winter in Wyoming, were they still head over heels about each other? (Austin/Ally pairing)


FIRST: Hey everyone, this is the author's friend. She's still in Costa Rica and apologizes about the lack of "Finally Us" updates. She's in the middle of her fellowship and promises that she's been writing all the chapters for the story. She wants to get it just right and not give you all, in her words, "a shitty update that doesn't make any sense".

SECOND: She did send this to me to post for everyone. Hopefully, it makes up for the lack of updates, plus, I read it, and it's super cute.

Enjoy!

* * *

It was Dez's idea. The getting together for New Year's since they truly hadn't seen each other for about six years since they had graduated high school and went off to college, and toured the world. The red headed man, who was about to get married, had convinced each of them to fly up to the middle of nowhere in Wyoming to reconnect and to get away from the world. The cabin that Dez had hand picked was nice and spacious, but not too spacious. An authentic log cabin sitting right on the Snake River, it had three bedrooms with an extra bed pushed into a odd corner so there were sleeping areas for all four of them. There was even a cute tree house built for two suspended in the pine grove. The kitchen was cozy and a hot tub right outside that Dez and Trish had already argued over who was going to dip their toes in that first. While the hot tub and cabin were nice, she personally was all about the views.

You could walk down the river bend and in about ten minutes could see forever with magical views of the Grand Teton and Sleeping Indian mountains range. It was view that could inspire more than just one great American novel, with symphonies to accompany them. Hopefully, the same views could give her the inspiration for songs for Ally's next album. Something that had been put on hold since she graduated from Harvard with her business degree and thrown herself into the A&A Music Factory since her Dad had turned it into something she didn't even recognize. Gone were the giraffe gallery showings and back were the actual music lessons, showing kids how powerful music could be. She thanked her lucky stars that Lily was still around and had recruited more of her friends to join and even convinced Nelson, who Ally hadn't seen in years, to come by and he was now the one giving piano lessons to others.

All four of them were still partners in the Music Factory, but after high school, the business had been handed over to her Dad for safe keeping while she and Trish headed north - her for college, Trish for a new client; Dez was off to Los Angeles for film school again and Austin had been booked on a tour, that was traveling all over the world. It was a hard thing for her to leave Miami behind then, and even worse, leaving Austin. They had made the decision together to go their separate ways and if, by chance, the next time they met they still got that feeling - you know, that feeling of a million butterflies against their stomachs, the thrill of excitement when they were within inches of each other - they'd give it another go. It wasn't like they'd never done the break thing before, but this time, it had just been longer and there was more distance; although they hadn't completely lost touch. There were emails and texts and if she had found something funny that Nelson was doing, or something that reminded her of him, a text was sent. Their phone calls were far and few between with him being on the road, but she kept him in the loop with the Music Factory. He always wanted to know about it.

It had been an eventful day - filled with a little moose and Dez tracking after he had spotted a big one out in the fields and she, Austin and Trish had to follow him in order for him not to get lost. On top of that, the four had also made a trip to the ski lodge with her getting a few lessons about how to actually ski with the thinest and wobbliest pieces of wood attached to her boots. While she expected her lesson to go horrible anyway, she didn't expect for Dez to have an even worse time. Since he and Austin had been friends for their entire lives, Austin would actually bring Dez to the Colorado area to spend some winter vacations with their family, and she had half expected Dez to be a seasoned skier. But that wasn't the case at all. In fact, he was worse than she was - which explained why he was in his own room, with his now sprained and swollen foot elevated by essentially all the leftover pillows in the home.

Slipping on her robe, Ally padded her way down to the main floor. They had had a full dinner and it was delicious, thanks to Trish and her mom forcing her to learn to cook when she was younger, but her stomach was craving a little midnight snack. Her bare feet stepped onto the tiled floor, cold from the dropping temperature, and she winced. Should've put on socks too.

"Ally?"

His voice startled her, almost making her jump and bang her head on the cupboard she had just pulled open to see what actually was in the cupboards for that snack. Turning around, she noticed Austin sitting on the sofa, with a coffee cup in his hands and a piercing glint in his dark eyes. Holding her hand to her heart, Ally squinted into the darkness, fully taking in Austin's appearance. A simple white tank top covered his torso and showed off his ripped arms. Looks like that heavy lifting of all his equipment during the tour was a good workout. His legs sprawled out in front of him on the long end of the sofa, covered by what Ally could only call his Christmas explosion pants. They were colorful beyond words and looked like they belonged in Dez' closet instead of Austin's. Bringing her eyes back up to his, she filled the silence with a stupid question - one that she probably already knew the answer to. "What are you doing up?"

"My room is across from Dez' and he's been talking in his sleep like mad tonight."

"He wasn't sleep talking when I passed by..." Ally pointed up the stairs, raising her eyebrow just slightly.

"Because I gave him some very powerful pain meds the doctor gave us earlier. Knocked him out like that," Austin snapped his fingers together, the sound echoing off the exposed logs of the cabin. "I made hot chocolate."

"Still warm?"

"Should be."

Spinning around on her toes again, Ally headed back inside the kitchen and sniffed out the source of the hot chocolate. She closed her eyes, soaking in the aroma that she went crazy over. Picking out the biggest mug of them all, Ally poured in the warm liquid and topped it off with not just a few marshmallows, but half the bag that Austin had left out. Joining him on the couch moments later, Ally was careful not to spill the contents of her mug even though she knew he was going to reach out and grab a few of those marshmallows off the top. In fact, she was counting on it. So when he reached over and took one, popping it into his mouth, she playfully smacked his hand.

"You and those marshmallows...you could live off those, couldn't you?"

"Probably," she smiled over at him, before her eyes flickered to the fire that was roaring in front of them. How did she not see that before? It was warm, and cozy, and sitting here with Austin now, felt more romantic than she thought it would. If this was another time, in the past, or even in the future, she'd be sitting closer with maybe her legs over his and his arm would be around her...she'd be drawing words on his thigh and he'd be catching that hand in his before kissing her.

"I always loved that about you," Austin smiled at her, taking a drink from his mug.

"My weird obsession of marshmallows?"

He shook his head yes before snatching another off the top and moved just slightly out of her way so she couldn't slap him again. "Did you have fun today?"

Ally wiped away the trace of chocolate she tasted on her bottom lip and nodded her head. She actually did, in spite of chasing Dez into the woods and back out of the woods and trying not to injure anyone with her killer ski moves, it was a pretty good day. "Thanks for showing me the basics on the skis. At least I know how to walk now."

"And tomorrow, we'll get you down the bunny trail."

"Or..." Austin raised his eyebrow at her, interested in what she was going to suggest. "Or, we take that snowmobile out for a ride and leave Trish to deal with Dez on her own."

Austin couldn't help his laughter then, with her joining in moments later. "She'd murder us."

"Most likely, but she's been good the past few weeks with the students...and when Dez surprised us at the Music Factory and told us to pack for the trip, she didn't kill him there."

"Doesn't she have that new boyfriend?"

"Yea, Bryan. He's good for her. He's a lot like Jace was, but better." He truly was. Bryan Dresden was one of the most stand up guys she'd ever met and the moment he'd met Trish - at a mixer at Harvard that she had dragged Trish along with her to - they just clicked. It was kind of miraculous how sweet Trish had turned after meeting him. She didn't lose her bossy and sassy side at all, but after their third date and Trish proclaiming she was in love, a new, sweeter side came out.

"And what about you?"

Ally stopped in bringing the mug up to her lips again. Did he just ask her if...he did, didn't he? She was hoping this conversation would happen during their trip, but didn't want to force anything. She didn't know his plans after the holidays and didn't want to cage him into anything he wasn't ready for. What could she tell him though? That for six years she'd been counting down the 2,190 days until she could call herself Austin Moon's girlfriend again; that she could kiss him anytime she wanted to; and that she could draw those silly words on his thigh and her little fantasy could come true. She had dated in the time they'd been apart, but once you date Austin Moon, there's really no one else that could ever compare.

Even after those 2,190 days, more than 50,000 minutes and so many seconds she couldn't calculate, he still made her stomach do flips. She liked to call it her perfect happiness. It's that feeling that just being in their arms means that everything will be okay, even if it wasn't. It's the feeling about he was always the first one she always wanted to talk to when anything was good or bad, or stupid or crazy. Even after all those minutes, and days and years that passed, he was still the one that made her get that perfect happiness feeling.

She was still staring back at him, she realized, while all these thoughts were running through her head. What kind of answer was he looking for? She tried to search it out in his eyes, but they weren't giving her anything except for a dare to not kiss him right then. "Um, no," her voice was quiet, but he still heard her. "I mean, I did date some in college, but nothing serious. But you know that; I told you that. There was this one guy new in Miami, and it was going okay for a while, but then Trish happened. It's safe to say that there was no third date," she stopped herself. "I'm rambling. Sorry."

"So, no boyfriend?"

She shook her head. "No. No boyfriend." She watched him nod, not missing the little smirk that slid up on the corner of his mouth. Looks like he got the answer he was looking for. Now it was her turn. Not that she needed to know how many hookups that had happened on his tour or anything, she just wanted to know where he stood now and what it would mean for them, if it did. "What about you?"

"Me?"

Ally nodded her head. "You asked me, so I'm asking you."

She watched his smirk grow more mischievous, before he shifted his body around in the corner of the couch and scooted a bit closer to her. She felt his eyes roam over her again, sending chills down her spine. He was the only one who could do that. She hadn't lied - there had been other guys in the four years she was at Harvard and out of all of those guys, none made her feel the thrill like Austin was right now. While they were a couple, he'd always be the one saying sweet things, he'd cuddle, he'd listen to her when she was angry or frustrated, and she smiled remembering all the times she'd be running around like a chicken with its head cut off and he'd just be staring at her. It wasn't just a what-the-hell-are-you-on-about-stare either. They were more how-on-earth-am-I-lucky-enough-to-be-with-you stares.

Austin reached out, pulling the shoulder of her robe up onto her shoulder after it slipped down. She listened as he took a deep breath, placing her almost empty mug on the coffee table ahead of them. She twisted her body to face him, her hands running through her messy brunette hair. "There is someone I have been seeing."

Talk about a twist in the story. Her hopes instantly deflated and she was seriously thinking of leaving him right there without a word. But then...

"But she doesn't know I've been seeing her," his hand met her hand, and he started to play with her fingers. "I've been back from tour for about two weeks and most of my time has been spent sleeping. But when I wasn't sleeping, I was stalking this girl. I'd go to her place of work and just watch her, and she didn't know I was there because she was running around in circles."

Ally took a deep breath. Even if they weren't getting back together now, he was still her best friend; and best friends were supportive in every way. Even with love. "You turned into a stalker?"

"Only for this girl...woman. I keep saying girl, but she's a woman. A very sexy woman that even after years of not seeing her face to face, can still take my breath away."

"Is it Kira?"

Austin's eyes popped open, followed by a little confusion. "Kira? God, no. Why would you think...It's not Kira. Not even close."

"Oh."

"Ally," he said her name softly and left her hand behind to cup her cheek, making her look at him again. "This woman drives me crazy. She's beautiful and whenever I used to tell her this, she'd roll her eyes at me." Wait, she used to do that. "She's the woman I've been thinking of every day on tour...so much that I haven't been with anyone else."

He was staring so deep into her eyes that she was about to explode. Please say it's me. Please say it's me.

"It's been agony becoming her stalker and not something more for weeks."

"Austin," now her voice was barely above a whisper. "Please say it's me before I kiss someone who's heart belongs to another."

He cracked a big smile towards her. "Who else would it be? It's always been you."

That's all she needed to hear before her lips slid over his in a hurry, the space between them becoming non-existent. She had missed his lips, his touch, his everything. It had been smart for them to split as a couple years before, but she always knew that he was her end all and be all; and his kiss was proving just that. It wasn't fast and it wasn't slow, it was right in the middle and full of promises for their future together. The future she couldn't help but dream of in the moment as her eyes fluttered shut over and over again. Her arms slid up his bare ones, her hands resting over his neck and pulling him closer.

She felt his hand move from her cheek and down her neck before he broke the kiss entirely. He leaned his forehead onto hers, and she watched the curves of his mouth drift upwards. "You have no idea how much I wanted to do that since we got here. Hell, since I got back from tour."

"Why didn't you?"

"I wasn't sure you still wanted to be with me," he confessed to her and all at once, her heart broke before being sewn right up again by his words. How could he think that she didn't want to be with him? What had made him think that at all? "Dez told me about the one guy you were seeing," he answered her silent question that she was sure he could see in her eyes.

"Austin," Ally kissed him quickly again. "I'll never not want to be with you."

It was an hour later when Austin finally pulled her off up the couch. They had stayed there talking, and reminiscing, and kissing and being that couple that you always see in the romantic movies sitting in front of a warm fire after a day out in the cold, winter white snow. And it had been everything. She had found out that he'd be signed to another record label, truly leaving Starr Records behind him and would be starting work on a new album as soon as the new year started. She was even more excited to find out that this would give him time to return to the Music Factory and work with the students again. She knew Lily had been missing Austin, and Nelson...the boy hadn't seen Austin in ages and Ally was looking forward to that reunion.

She couldn't stop smiling if you asked her to. Everything was happening all at once, and it was wonderful. In three days time, they'd be on a plane back to Miami - together. She knew she'd have to twist Dez' arm to sit by Austin on the flight back, but it was worth it. Ally Dawson was Austin Moon's girlfriend again, and saying that in her head was the best Christmas gift she had received this year. This trip was probably the best idea Dez had ever had. Thank God for the Love Whisperer.

Austin held her hand as they walked up the stairs back to their rooms after putting out the fire and leaving the mess in the kitchen for the morning. They tiptoed past Trish's room, peeking inside to see the manager's cheetah blanket (the enormously loud one she insisted on bringing) covering her entire body. Ally let out a light giggle as Austin wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her forward in a rush. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders again and he surprised her, stealing a kiss like he used to do years ago. She had missed those. The kisses that came without any warning, remembering several being taken while she was in the middle of recording a new song or in the middle of a music lesson. She would ask him what they were for, but he wouldn't give her answer then. Maybe he would now, so she did ask him.

"Because I'm happy," he tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm so happy, and because you're beautiful and drive me crazy and, I can."

Her smile mimicked his own. She was happy too. So, so happy.


End file.
